Tarleton State University Contest

By Dan Collins, Ph.D., Tarleton Sate University AITP Student Chapter Faculty Advisor

Stephenville, Texas was the place to be Friday and Saturday, February 28-28, 2004 for the Tarleton State University AITP 18^th Annual Glenda Anderson Programming Contest and Symposium. Area AITP student chapters traveled to the North Texas town just south of Ft. Worth for contest events and speakers. This contest serves as an annual fundraiser for the Tarleton State University AITP student chapter to generate additional funds in order to attend the AITP National Collegiate Conference, but also provides a warm-up opportunity for attendees to prepare for the upcoming national contest events. Additionally, the conference is run by the AITP student chapter, including all the contest events as well!

Schools represented included:

• Texas State University - San Marcos
• Hardin-Simmons University
• McMurray University
• Northwestern State University
• Central Texas College
• University of Texas at Dallas
• Texas State Technical College - Waco
• University of Texas at Arlington

In addition to the AITP student members in attendance, the AITP Region 3 officers held a spring meeting and conducted a leadership workshop as well. In fact, Region 3 President Teresa Hickerson was the Saturday luncheon speaker and helped recognize all the winners while encouraging everyone to apply for the RHT/AITP scholarship let alone attending the upcoming AITP National Collegiate Conference April 1-3, 2004 in Omaha, Nebraska. It was also announced that the Tarleton State University AITP student chapter will host the AITP Region 3 student conference October 7-9, 2004, where approximately 300 IT students and faculty will be in attendance.

The contests were divided into upper and lower divisions of freshmen and sophomores competing in one category, and juniors and seniors competing in the other category. The winner list includes:

Network Design (Upper Division)
1^st -- Texas State University-San Marcos -- Philip Mears/Donald Berg
2^nd -- Texas State Technical College-Waco -- Michael Goodman
3^rd -- Northwestern State University -- James Marsh/Adams Williams

Network Design (Lower Division)
*No teams

Visual Basic (Upper Division)
1^st -- University of Texas at Arlington -- Nitin Bhatia
2^nd -- Northwestern State University -- Joseph Brakhage/Chris Bankovic3^rd -- Hardin-Simmons University -- Frank Dick/Amber Hollingsworth

Visual Basic (Lower Division)
1^st -- Texas State Technical College-Waco -- Aaron Hawkins/Heather Cole
2^nd -- Central Texas College -- Frederick Frick/Ramiro Valdez
3^rd -- Texas State Technical College-Waco -- Tyler Ashbaugh/Justin Knox

COBOL (Upper Division)
1^st -- Northwestern State University -- Chris Bankovic
2^nd -- Northwestern State University -- Tracy Leeper/Joseph Storrs
3^rd -- Northwestern State University -- Holly Nguyen/Brandy Bourgoyne

COBOL (Lower Division)
1^st -- Central Texas College -- Ramiro Valdez/Chris Sharier
2^nd -- Central Texas College -- Frederick Frick/Bill Gadsby
3^rd -- Central Texas College -- Pierre-Carly LaFaile/Chris Beedy

SQL/Database (Upper Division)
1^st -- Texas State University-San Marcos -- Aaron Gadberry/Phillip Mears
2^nd -- Northwestern State University -- Elvis Mensah/Joseph Brakhage
3^rd -- Northwestern State University -- Janis Austin/James Smith

SQL/Database (Lower Division)
1^st -- Texas State Technical College-Waco -- Matthew Almaguer/Danielle Rother

Web Design (Upper Division)
1^st -- Texas State University-San Marcos -- Philip Mears
2^nd -- University of Texas at Arlington -- Nitin Bhatia
3^rd -- Texas State Technical College-Waco -- Kathy Martin

C++.net (Upper Division)
1^st -- University of Texas at Dallas -- Joseph Alphonso
2^nd -- Texas State University-San Marcos -- Aaron Gadberry/Donald Berg
3^rd -- Hardin-Simmons University -- Lisa Jackson/Daniel Graves

C++.net (Lower Division)
1^st -- Central Texas College -- Michael Coon/Pierre-Carly Lafaile
2^nd -- Texas State Technical College-Waco -- Max Peckman
3^rd -- Central Texas College -- Ramiro Valdez/Chris Sharier

During the awards luncheon, door prizes were awarded and, as usual, great food prepared by the Tarleton State University AITP and EDP student chapter members and faculty.

Thanks to everyone that helps, attended, competed and participated and "See you in Omaha!"